Pillows come in a variety of forms, with the more typical consisting of rectangular, fabric enclosures filled with feathers, down, chipped foam, or a polyester fill. These pillows may be shaped by the user to provide reasonably adequate support for the user while the user falls asleep. However, many people suffer from an uncomfortable night's sleep because of the inadequate support that their head and neck receive while using these traditional pillows throughout the night. This is because traditional pillows either have a body that is so soft that the neck support area compresses to result in no support, or the body is so firm that the head sits considerably higher than the shoulders of the user, resulting in an abnormal sleeping position. Chronic neck pain or stiffness and a tense upper back are often the result of these inadequate forms of support these traditional pillows provide.
Various foam pillows have also been developed typically comprising a foam body taking the place of the above-noted fillers and inserted into an overall fabric enclosure. These foam based pillows avoid problems such as filler clumping and can facilitate washing by allowing for easier removal of the pillow support from its fabric enclosure.
There is also known in the art a pillow featuring a foam core generally surrounded by loose fiber. There can be, however, an undesirable degree of migration or area clumping with a pillow having a foam core generally surrounded by fiberfill within a ticking.